By choosing to post the reply below you agree to the rules you agreed to when joining Sailnet.
Click Here to view those rules.

Message:

Trackback:

Send Trackbacks to (Separate multiple URLs with spaces) :

Post Icons

You may choose an icon for your message from the following list:

No icon

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the SailNet Community forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.Please note: After entering 3 characters a list of Usernames already in use will appear and the list will disappear once a valid Username is entered.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Click here to view the posting rules you are bound to when clicking the'Submit Reply' button below

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Click here to view the posting rules you are bound to when clicking the'Submit Reply' button below

Topic Review (Newest First)

02-26-2013 12:41 AM

jimgo

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

I'm jealous! I'd love to live 25 minutes from our boat!!!

Thanks for the feedback about Georgetown. I think at this point, we're going to stay in Barnegat Bay, but it's nice to know what our options are.

02-23-2013 02:47 PM

TheLostGirlsMom

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

We keep our sailboat on a mooring at Georgetown Yacht Basin. It is a family friendly marina and our girls never want to leave. It does take a good hour to get to the bay. Most of the people that keep their boat at the marina are from PA and NJ. We only live 25 minutes away so we feel spoiled to live so close

02-05-2013 10:09 AM

jimgo

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Yeah, that's something that scares me, too. I haven't tried going out to Forked River in the summer, but I'm afraid the drive will be nasty. It could turn a 2 hour drive into a 3 or 4 hour drive, if it's anything like going to the Wildwood/Ocean City area. That wouldn't be so bad if we were staying the whole weekend, but we're still not sure about overnights on the boat (long story), so keeping it close so it's a reasonable day trip (with traffic) is a big plus. If the drive to the Eastern Shore is really that easy (maybe making a 2 hour drive a 2:15 or 2:30), it might be worth it.

One big plus about both bays is that, unlike our location last year, we'll be able to sail whenever we want. Last year, we could sail at high tide plus or minus about 2-3 hours. When the high tide happened too early or too late, that could take an entire weekend out of the picture. So, I hope that we'll get more use this year simply because we'll have more possible weekends.

02-05-2013 10:01 AM

chef2sail

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Shawn is correct of course. I was worried about your drive. The nice thing about the drive from Philly which I used to do is that its a relatively easy one and the drive on 301 and to the Eastern Shore is an easy one. Farmland and less traffic,

Fighting that Jersey shore traffic is a bitch on weekends. When I kept my boat in Barnegat ( Dillons) I was headed North on the Parkway on weekends the opposite way of traffic,

02-05-2013 08:52 AM

jimgo

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Shawn, that was my thought, too. We'd have to balance easier access against more "fun."

02-05-2013 08:51 AM

jimgo

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Silver Cloud is high on my list. They are in a good location for us, and their prices are decent. I just have to hope they don't sell out of slips before we are ready. I also like Laurel Harbor, but they don't have a pool. There are a lot of other things to do in that area, though, so it may not be that bad.

Thanks for the feedback on the size of the Sassafras - that is hard to judge on Google Maps.

02-05-2013 08:50 AM

T37Chef

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

an extra few minutes of driving can open up a lot more destinations for sailing if you consider rockhall area, or even Kent island. Sassafras to rockhall is a good 2 hour sail i would guess or about 30 minutes by car

I think you open up a lot more sailing and kid friendly destinations if you head just a little further south

02-05-2013 03:42 AM

chef2sail

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Yes an hour to the bay, but its a sailable hour. Also the Sasafrass once past Ordinary Point, a couple of miles from sailin Assoc is a good river to sail in when its howling on the Bay which was one of your criteria. Its plenty wide enough to stay in and tack.

If distance is your worry about Rock Hall its about 1/2 hour closer. I would rather go to Rock Hall in the big pucture, but if it cuts down on using the boat.

I lived in Bryn Mawr years ago before 495 was built and we kept our boat at Gratitude in Rock Hall. It wa a tad less than a two hour drive. I live in Towson area. which is just north of Baltimore and my brother in Strathmore. Its a 1.5 hour ride.

Did you check Silver Cloud and Forked River on Barnegat bay

02-05-2013 01:19 AM

jimgo

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Chef2Sail, we loved Dillon's Creek, but they are really out of our price range for this coming season. I wouldn't mind being back there another time, but for now, I have to look elsewhere.

I'm 80% sure we'll wind up on Barnegat Bay somewhere this season, since my in-laws have a house at the NJ shore. It's south of Barnegat Bay, but depending on where we are on the bay, we'd still have the boat accessible if we went to visit them. The boat being on the Chesapeake means that a "quick" trip to go sailing will be anything but quick.

That being said, we weren't actually AT my in-law's condo very often last year. They frequently had visitors, and we didn't want to intrude. So that meant that the boat didn't need to be TOO close to the condo, and having it closer to home would mean we'd use it more. I'm tempted to bring the next boat to the Delaware, but I'm not sure I want to fight the current all the time, especially the first season with our boat.

If we buy a boat that's already on the Chesapeake, depending on where it is, I've been tempted to keep her on the Chesepeake, and then sail her over to NJ at the end of the season or some time next year if we're not happy there. There's also more competition for slips on Barnegat Bay, especially in the northern end, because Hurricane Sandy actually took out a few marinas, and they haven't recovered yet. When I called a few of the marinas that did survive, some have said that they are already booked up, and another had 1 slip available that would handle a 28-32' sailboat. So, that has me thinking "hmmmm...what if I buy a boat and don't have a place to keep her?" And that has me considering the Chesapeake where there wasn't nearly as much damage.

I like the looks of Sailing Associates, but I wonder about the location - wouldn't it take almost an hour to get out to the bay? Their prices seem pretty good, and they have most of the amenities that I'd like. We liked Georgetown when we were there a few weeks ago.

T35Chef, Haven Harbor Marina looks like a great place! I'll have to get slip rates from them. According to Google, they are 2:15 from me, which is a little far, but it may be worth the extra 20-30 minute drive depending on their rates. They kind of look like Sailing Associates, but with easier access to the bay.

As you can probably tell from all the questions I ask, I tend to overanalyze everything! I also REALLY appreciate all of the help you guys have given me. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favor some time.

02-04-2013 09:17 PM

chef2sail

Re: Northern Chesapeake Activities for Kids?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimgo

We have 2 boys, ages 7 and 5, and are trying to find a good marina for all of us. The ideal marina would be reasonably priced, and be close(ish) to a beach and other activities in case the weather wasn't what we were expecting. We kept our boat in Somers Point, NJ last year at a very small marina, and the location was pretty good - we could get to the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk in 20-25 minutes, and there was plenty to see and do close by (Cape May County Zoo (30 minutes), aviation museum, movie theaters, mini-golf, etc.). In fact, I could often entice everyone to go out sailing by first going out to the beach/boardwalk, then for a "short" 2 hour sail.

As we look at our next boat, we're also reassessing our marina options, in part because the marina we used last season won't be able to handle the boats under consideration. The NJ shore/Barnegat Bay area still seems to be the best bet for us, but the northern Chesapeake (North East/Havre de Grace/Chesapeake City) is even closer to us (we're northwest of Philly) and may not have quite the same traffic as going to the shore, so that's also tempting. I know there are a lot of destinations we can hit once we're out and about on the water, but I'm concerned about those days when it's predicted to be 8-12 mph winds, and when you get there it's 15-20 (or more), or even just 3-5.

I know I can try to find a marina with a pool, and that will help a lot (who doesn't like a pool?). But are there other options in that area for kids, too?

Use this interactive map and site to look at marinas around the northern Chessie